Symantec Backup Exec

The following best practices are for using the synthetic backup feature:

• Use synthetic backups to back up file system resources. Do not include database backups in synthetic backups. Synthetic backup jobs are not created if the backup selection list contains any resources that are not supported.

  Note:

  Synthetic backup is not supported for a remote resource that is in a different time zone than the media server.

• Do not select the option Use the Microsoft Change Journal if available if a volume contains hard links, or if you enable Single Instance Storage. Backup Exec detects that these files have been modified and performs backups without using the Change Journal. In this situation, backups for which the Change Journal option is enabled can require more time.

• Copy the example policy for a synthetic backup that Backup Exec provides, and then customize it. The example policy contains the default settings for synthetic backup.

  See About creating a synthetic backup by copying the example policy.

• Use the template rules to ensure that the baseline backup job and the recurring incremental jobs do not run at the same time. You can select the following template rule to ensure that the baseline backup and the recurring incremental backups do not run at the same time:

  If start times conflict, <Template A> will start and upon completion, starts <Template B>.

  See Setting template rules.

• To automatically copy the backup data to tape, add a Duplicate Backup Set template to the synthetic backup policy. The Duplicate Backup Set template provides automatic duplication of backup sets.

• If you use an encryption key in a synthetic backup policy, use the same encryption key for all of the associated templates. Do not change the encryption key after you create the policy.

• Create a full backup template for the baseline backup. This configuration is useful if the baseline backup uses a different destination device or runs on a different schedule than the recurring incremental backups.